Dallas Residents Pay Respects to Five Fallen Officers in Patrol Car Memorial

Two patrol cars set up outside the Dallas police headquarters have been covered in flowers by residents

Photo: Eric Gay/AP

Dallas residents have gathered together outside the city’s police department headquarters to pay their respects to the five police officers who were killed in Thursday’s deadly sniper shooting at a Black Lives Matter protest.

The shooting, which also wounded seven others, took the lives of Brent Thompson, Patrick Zamarripa, Michael Krol, Michael Smith and Lorne Ahrens. It’s the deadliest incident for U.S. law enforcement since September 11, 2001.

Mourners laid flowers, letters, and balloons, candles and various memorabilia on two squad cars sitting outside the offices. Dallas police had created the memorial on Friday, letting mourners know about the gesture on Twitter.

Photos taken on Friday and Saturday show both cars – one from the Dallas police department, the other from the Dallas Area Rapid Transit transit agency – nearly covered.

“Pray for Dallas” and “Pray for Dart,” Dallas police said in their tweet.

Thursday’s Black Lives Matter rally came in response to the recent police shootings of Philando Castile and Alton Sterling.

RELATED VIDEO: President Obama Speaks Out on ‘Vicious, Calculated and Despicable Attack’

President Barack Obama called the Dallas shooting a “vicious, calculated and despicable attack on law enforcement,” adding that it is a “a wrenching reminder of the sacrifices [police] make for us.”

“We are praying for their recovery,” he said on Friday, speaking from the NATO summit in Poland. “I believe I speak for every single American when I say we are horrified over these events, and we stand united with the people and the police department in Dallas.”